Fairly recently I’ve been playing through Revelations, the third game of the Fire Emblem: Fates trio. Considering the game combines all of the characters from Birthright and Conquest, there’s tons of fodder for your army in Revelations. It can actually be a bit overwhelming, but there were a few characters that stood out to me as my favorites.

4. Subaki

I was excited to see a male Pegasus flyer, to be honest. It was refreshing to see that the gender restrictions were lifted on the classes, and Subaki seemed to fit the Sky Knight class well. His calm persona and, admittedly, ridiculous need to be perfect amused me in his supports with the other characters, especially with Sakura, since he was her retainer!

3. Jakob

Jakob is a neutral character, his loyalty lying only with the Avatar character. He’s of the Butler class, a new class that uses shuriken and daggers as well as staves. I enjoyed using the class, but Jakob’s snarky attitude paired with his effectiveness won me over to his character. He was always on the Avatar’s side, but had no problem speaking up and sharing his opinions with a side of sarcasm.

2. Kaze

Being the first ninja class character, the class reminiscent of the thief and rogue lines of previous Fire Emblem installments, that the players encounter, I already had a good first impression of Kaze. His character development and personality throughout both Birthright and Conquest, and his growing loyalty to the Avatar, gave him a spot on this list.

1. Camilla

Admittedly, I was a bit put-off by Camilla mostly because she was blatantly designed to be eye-candy for those inclined to ladies. There wasn’t much practicality to her armor (or anything at all, in certain shots) and her excessive doting on the Avatar was a bit… strange. She was a good unit, though, and her protectiveness of her siblings and “big sister instincts” made me use her more in the games. Hearing snippets of her backstory, of how her mother used her as a tool in the cutthroat world of politics, made me wish that her character had been explored much more than what we got in the final games.

Joining in on Miketendo’s #FireEmblemWeek, I’m still riding high on the Fire Emblem hype that’s come with the announcement of all the new games. Did anyone else get Fire Emblem Heroes for mobile devices yet? Or do some of you prefer the full games, like in my list down below? Please note that I have not played every Fire Emblem game to date and that the below list is just my personal favorites.

5. Sacred Stones

The Sacred Stones was my first foray into the Fire Emblem world, and I’ve never regretted it. I remember picking this up from Toys R Us ages ago and, while I was a little apprehensive of the perma-death aspect of the game, I still decided to give it a go. It was a fantastic challenge, especially when I made myself restart battles whenever one of my soldiers died or I hadn’t managed to recruit a character to my army. I’ll always be thankful to this little game for introducing me to one of my favorite game series!

4. Path of Radiance

Path of Radiance is the Fire Emblem game that sticks out the most in my mind. It was one of the stories that I really dived into and I found myself being completely invested in the characters and the war of races and kingdoms that was a pivotal point in the story line. The various character classes, especially the laguz, were my favorite part of this game.

3. The Blazing Sword

The first Fire Emblem game to make its way west, The Blazing Sword introduced the franchise to this side of the world. While it wasn’t the first Fire Emblem game I’ve played, it was still one of my first experiences with Fire Emblem, and it was a delight to learn all about some of the most famous characters in the franchise, like Lyn, Hector, and Eliwood. Having the characters occasionally talk to you, the avatar, was awesome too!

2. Conquest

Conquest is ahead of Birthright mostly due to the added challenge that it brought to the Fates trio of Fire Emblem games. The battle maps had a plethora of different clear challenges aside from the usual rout all the enemy, such as escape with all your units and survive for a certain number of turns. I enjoyed this side of the story a bit more as well, as well the character classes and weapons.

1. Awakening

Awakening’s story line really captured my attention. Zombies (okay, so they’re called Risen), time travel, heroes from the past and future, and the avatar having an active role in everything going on. There wasn’t a character I didn’t enjoy raising in my army, including the children units, who had a role in the plot itself as well. It also had my favorite version of my favorite character class, thief and assassin! The customization of the avatar and reclassing ability for the units in the game give Awakening one of the best replay values of the franchise.

In the world of video games, grinding is defined as the process of engaging in repetitive tasks, usually defeating basic enemies to earn experience points and level up faster. What are your thoughts on grinding?

The game that I’ve been recently playing is Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright. For those who may not know, Fates is the latest installment in the Fire Emblem franchise, a fantasy strategy series that enables the players to take control of an army. The classic mode of these games boasts permadeath — when a character dies in battle, he or she will not respawn.

In the recent Fire Emblem games — Fates and its predecessor Awakening — the casual mode was introduced, which enabled characters to come back to life after a battle. Many longtime fans have argued that it wasn’t a true Fire Emblem option, but for someone like me who can become so invested in the characters’ stories and supports, it’s a nice game mode. With that said, I’m not above grinding to be sure that my characters have high enough levels when it comes to the actual story game play.

Between Birthright and Conquest, Birthright is the simpler of the pair and is made for more beginner players. It allows grinding, while I heard that Conquest does not. With the game play and all the support conversations, grinding is a typical past time for a player like me. I’m the type to try to keep every character around the same levels, give everyone an equal opportunity, and Conquest may not allow me that.

While I’m looking forward to Conquest, especially in regards to the story, the lack of grinding will give me the challenge of picking and choosing the best soldiers for my army. It’s similar to Pokemon. Everyone grinds to level up their Pokemon for gym battles and the like, especially in Nuzlocke challenges. However, does grinding negate the challenge?

What do you all think? Does grinding help in a game? Or do you prefer to fly through the story, to take on whatever challenges you can without worrying about leveling up?

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